Hair looks "lumpy" when pulled back

[Kaelee]

Anyone else have this problem? My hair is super sleek, fine and straight, and every time I pull it back, some strands go tighter than the others and it looks really lumpy and bad. The best I've been able to do is brushing it back with the BBB but it still looks bad IMO. Help?!

[spidermom]

I remember having that problem long ago, but I never do now. I don't know what changed except I got a lot more practice.

I have seen videos where the stylist emphasized the need for texture and imperfection in forming buns, so maybe you're getting results that are exactly what stylish women are going for.

[Asma]

It might not be detangled on top?

There's a trick I use when I have bumps on my ponytail, just take any sort of hair stick, put it where the bump is and pull it back, like move the stick back towards the elastic. Im so bad at describing, I remember seeing this on youtube a while ago but I cant find the video :c

[Kaelee]

it's definitely detangled, my hair is just SOO fine and silky.

I'll try the hair stick (or something...don't have any hair sticks!) trick and see fi that works for me. :)

[KahRistAhn]

Mine does that too. It's annoying. I don't really have anything actually helpful to say, sorry. But I feel ya!

[Bunnysaur]

I think it's a combination of both practice and layers. I used to have super bumpy ponytails, but now I take a few more swipes to even everything out and it looks a lot better. It might also have to do with different lengths of hair being able to be pulled back more.

[honeybunnie8]

Mine does that too. Even if I brush it back..so annoying.
I haven't tried this technique but I think it would work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTNa5kG6jMk&list=UUkrvCswr4x5LH3-Z8GTCKXw&index=5&feature=plcp

[AlabasterAlice]

Mine has done this my whole life. It's why I don't do top knots, or higher pony tails. To be honest I've never been able to fix it, I just learn how to work around it. All my buns stay to the mid back of my head or lower to my neck, and if I do that, no lumps.

[natural_shine]

It's not all brushed in the direction you're pulling it. Try brushing the "problem area" while you're actually pulling it, that solves my problem.

[Dorothy]

The chopstick thing works if it isn't too bad. I think this is worse with silky hair, because it's hard to hold onto. If you're going to put it in a high pony, it helps to bend forward, and pull your head toward your knees until the place you want the pony on is pointed at the ground. Then comb it into a pony from that position, coming hairline to pony at every point around your head, which requires you to rotate your hand around the pony so you can open your fingers and thumb to take the combed section in. Then fix any leftovers with the hairstick.

[heidi w.]

I occasionally have that problem and will take all my hair down and redo the updo if this occurs. I have found that usually it's a problem of not drawing the hair back very well. It happens more commonly when I draw it back from a too up front location. I have to comb all the length to the back of me: I have to comb from the back of the head on the side, and then get the front drawn back. I have to build the hair as a way of explaining it from the further backside of the head, including going underneath the hair, behind the ears....I can't begin from the front hairline, or else I'm in trouble.

A BBB I have found doesn't help prevent this issue at all. But you can tilt this type of brush on its side, and kind of smooth comb-streaked hair so it looks a little more shiny and smoother on top. Be sure to go in the direction the hair is combed. And I do it after my hair is put in the updo, not before. This little trick can help me get away with a day of hair in somewhat desperate need of a hair wash, when I don't have time, really.

heidi w.

[Kaelee]

Thanks for all the tips guys! I'll try this out tomorrow. Glad I'm not the only one! I always see people with such smooth, perfectly sleek hair and I could never get mine to do that!

[pepperminttea]

Mine has done this my whole life. It's why I don't do top knots, or higher pony tails. To be honest I've never been able to fix it, I just learn how to work around it.

Yup, me too. It's worse when my hair is damp. I gather my hair with my hands, and then hold it with one hand and comb it towards where it's gathered with the other hand. It still doesn't get it completely unbumpy, but it's better than nothing.

[Madora]

After you've made certain all your hair has been detangled, use a wide tooth comb to comb back the hair. It will probably take several trys to get the look you want.

The comb's teeth affords much more "purchase" on the strands as you guide them backward.

[torrilin]

Anyone else have this problem? My hair is super sleek, fine and straight, and every time I pull it back, some strands go tighter than the others and it looks really lumpy and bad. The best I've been able to do is brushing it back with the BBB but it still looks bad IMO. Help?!

*shrug*

It's a natural thing that happens when you're first learning to put your hair up. I know part (tho by no means all) of the problem is due to wanting everything to be totally smooth and tight. Eventually, you learn that you don't have to yoink hard on your hair to get it to be smooth. And if you make a serious habit of yoinking as hard as you can, it's a good way to break hair.

Generally I don't use much besides my fingers to comb my hair. At first when I was making the switch, I had gloppier looking updos than normal. After about a year of practice tho, my updos are back to glossy and sleek if that's the look I want. (believe it or not, a lot of the impetus was my partner lost *his* boar bristle brush, so he borrowed mine and kept hiding it... so I gradually shifted over to almost never using tools)

FWIW, my progression was plastic brush (without those horrible popping off ball tips), boar bristle brush and sometimes combs, wide toothed combs mostly to the current fingers mostly, over about 20 years from age 12 or so til now. I don't have a lot of natural dexterity, so even tho I've always used finger combing some, it took me forever to get it down properly.

[Yozhik]

I've heard these lumps called "roosters" in Russian, which I think is so cute! :crush:

Back on subject -- if I want a smoother updo, I either smooth my hair back with the sides of my palms or my fingers, or with a comb, and then put it up. If there are still lumps, I gently comb back to eliminate them. I found I really only have this occasionally with high ponytails, though, which my hair is to weighty for now.

[Macaroni]

Try a fine toothed comb to smooth:

https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTz9hiq6BLf-Jlcqe5joKyqsg7wBMYQm5SnU4_ujLWmIhxPtkGWmQ

[ravenheather]

I get a smoother result using my tangle teezer to put hair up.

[teela1978]

Oddly... I find this problem is worse when I've brushed my hair while putting it up. Somehow brushing it into place leaves it extra bumpy. If I comb it to detangle and then fingercomb it to where I want to go it does a bit better. The bumps are bigger instead of random bits sticking up. I have no clue why this is.

[ladylowtide]

I have this problem. And for me it is not tangles. 98% of my entire life I have had my hair down in the same or almost the same part. My hair is extremely resistant to laying down in any direction accept the strait down in my natural part. Even after a couple months of practice, detangling before hand, combing the hair in to my hands, trying to smooth with BBB, I still get bumps and lumps, where my hair is attempting to go straight down instead of back :p

Soo, after fighting it, I mostly just do middle to low buns, and lots of different braids :p

But when I do do a high pony, I just try to make the bumps as visually appealing as possible. And for my top knots, I try to make the bumps evenly distributed, so that my painstaking bun looks more like I just threw it up on whim... :)

[LaFlor]

Like mentioned by other posters this only happens to me when I do high ponys. I just stick to styles that sit lower on my head.

[Arya]

I know there's some article on here about how to get a smooth top-knot or ponytail, but I can't find it! I think it was written by igor, and involves making ponytail, tying it off, brushing the 'roosters'/lumps on your scalp towards the elastic. Then you slide that elastic down, put a new elastic in front of that one, so that the lumps you brushed now fall between both elastics, and slide the old one off.

The other method involves squishing the lumps under the other strands of hair. Basically, you make a ponytail as smooth as you can, and tie it off. Then you take a hairstick or chopstick, insert it under the hair right in front of the lump, and then draw it back away from your face. This squishes makes the lump disappear under the smooth hair. It doesn't always work, but it usually does!

That was basically the worst description ever, but perhaps it pings someone's memory who can find the articles better than I. :D

[schweedie]

It's not all brushed in the direction you're pulling it. Try brushing the "problem area" while you're actually pulling it, that solves my problem.
This. I often get a similar problem, and this is how I solve it. If I want it look smooth it needs to be smooth before I actually make the ponytail or bun, or my scalp will look bumpy.

[Asma]

Mine does that too. Even if I brush it back..so annoying.
I haven't tried this technique but I think it would work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTNa5kG6jMk&list=UUkrvCswr4x5LH3-Z8GTCKXw&index=5&feature=plcp
That's the video I was looking for! :eek:

[luxepiggy]

It sounds like you're probably trying to gather up too much hair all at once. The trick to getting a very smooth look on top is to gather the hair in many small sections.

Imagine a triangle formed by connecting the crown of your head and your center front hairline.
Gather up and smooth only the hair inside that triangle.
Take a narrow section of hair immediately left of the gathered portion and smooth it in.
Repeat with a section immediately right of the gathered portion.
Continue alternating sides as you work your way around the hairline until you reach your temples / ear level.
Beginning just below the spot where you want the finished ponytail/updo to sit, integrate a narrow section from the center back of the head (should be less than 2" wide)
Continue to integrate narrow sections from the center back of the head, working your way down to the nape.
Finish by integrating the hair from the back left & back right, moving in small sections along the hairline from the nape towards the ears.

As long as you've been smoothing each section along the way and keeping a firm hold on the gathered portions, there won't be a lump in sight when you're done (^(oo)^)v